The month of Elul is a month of preparation for the Yamim HaNoraim (High Holy Days): Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. During this month we engage in Teshuva (repentance) and correcting our deeds. In the following lines we will focus on a special point in the subject of Teshuva, which we learn from the words of Hoshea, the prophet of Teshuva. Hoshea the prophet proclaims (14:2): "Return, Israel, unto HaShem your Lord, for you have stumbled in your iniquities." Our sages (Bereshis Rabbah parshat Vayeishev, Pesikta) stress the genealogy of the prophet Hoshea the son of Be'eri and emphasize that he is from the tribe of Reuven, thus they connect between his prophecy and the incident of Reuven the son of Yaakov. And so says the Midrash:
 

"Rav Berachia said, HaShem said (to Reuven): you opened first with Teshuva, by your life the son of your son will come and open first with Teshuva."
 

And the question arises: Chazal mentioned a number of people who preceded Reuven! Adam HaRishon repented in the wake of his son Cain (Bereshis Rabbah 22), and even Ishmael repented in his last days (Babba Bathra 16b), so what was so special about Reuven's Teshuva that it merited him the distinction of "opening first with" (introducing) Teshuva?
 

Additionally, with regard to the prophet Hoshea, was he in fact the first prophet to speak about Teshuva? The greatest prophet of the era, Yishayahu, called out for Teshuva in several prophecies in his Book, the most famous of which is (Yishayahu 55): "Seek out HaShem when He is present, call to Him while He is close. A wicked man shall abandon his (evil) way, and a man of iniquity (shall abandon) his thoughts, and will return to HaShem and He shall have mercy upon him, and (he will return) to our Lord, as He forgives abundantly." So what is the special point about Hoshea?
 

Several answers have been offered to these questions, and in this issue we will follow the path of HaRav Soloveitchik ZTZ"L and HaRav HaGaon Shlomo Fischer ZTZ"L, the author of the "Beit Yishai."
 

It is known that Reuven's sins centered on Bilhah and the mixing up of his father's bedding. Without going into what exactly happened there, it is clear that the sin originated from the understanding that Bilhah was still a handmaiden at that time, and favoring her over Leah brought Reuven to do what he did. The Gemara says: "The insult to his mother demanded this. He said: If my mother's sister was her rival, will my mother's sister's handmaiden also be my mother's rival?!" (Shabbat 55b) Reuven's motivation for his act was his inability to reconcile with the humiliation of the favoring of Bilhah the handmaiden over his mother Leah, the g'virah (lady master). 

When did the awakening come? After the episode of Yosef's dreams, Yaakov Avinu responds: "Will we all come, myself and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to the earth before you?" And Rashi asks (Bereshis 37:10) "And did his mother (Rachel) not already pass away!" And Rashi continues: "And he did not know that this (the dream) was about Bilhah (who raised Yosef as if she was his mother)." When Reuven heard that in Yosef's dream Bilhah was considered as Yaakov's wife (the sun and the moon represented Yaakov and Bilhah), he realized that he had been mistaken in his underlying assumption, and in actuality Bilhah had been freed and was not a maidservant (Maharsha). Once he realized his mistake, he immediately repented his deed involving Bilhah.

In the Halachot of Hatarat Nedarim (revocation of vows) there are two concepts: Petach (an opening) and Charatah (regretting the vow). Charatah means that the one who made the vow regrets making it and sincerely decides to disavow it. A Petach works differently: by means of an "opening" the pledger comes to the realization that he made a mistake, and had he known previously the facts which he knows now, he would not have made the vow in the first place.
 

Regarding Teshuva there are also two kinds: one is Teshuva out of Charatah, when the sinner realizes the magnitude of the corruption, regrets what he did, and repents. And there is Teshuva which has the aspect of "opening", and here the sinner comes to the realization that he simply misunderstood the situation, and had he known then all the facts which he learned now, he certainly would not have sinned in the first place. 
 

All of those who repented prior to Reuven - their Teshuva was defined by Charatah. When the Teshuva is of this kind, a sense of the pleasure of the sin remains with the sinner, had the act not comprised a transgression. However, Teshuva of the "Petach" type is Teshuva which "uproots" (nullifies) the sin retroactively, and the level of this type of Teshuva is higher since it causes the deed to be as if it did not occur. So it is with mekach ta'ut (transaction under misinformation) or kiddushei ta'ut (betrothal under misinformation) - in both cases the mistake nullifies the undertaking retroactively.
 

Now we can return to the words of Chazal and understand them: "You opened first with Teshuva (in the sense of Petach – opening), by your life the son of your son will come and open first with Teshuva."
 

And this is the special aspect of Hoshea's prophecy when he calls to Am Israel "for you have stumbled in your iniquities." Be aware that here was a stumbling, a misconception. You thought that a certain reality was true, and you came to the realization that it was all an illusion. And therefore: Return, Israel!